June 13/98 12:44 pm - Womens World Cup Race begins

The race has just started with 93 racers participating. The day is overcast, slight wind with the occasional raindrop but, so far anyway, the rain is holding off.

Rob spoke with Linda Jackson earlier who, like nearly all of the rest of the field (we speculate that the only one of the top riders who has ever raced this course before is Catherine Marsal), appears a bit uneasy about predicting the outcome of the race. The difficulty of this course is well known to everyone in the pack.

So it can go either of 2 ways. Either the stronger riders will force the pace hoping to shed as much of the pack as possible and then battle it out at the finish, or the whole pack can ride cautiously together, waiting for someone else to make a move.

The predictions are that the group that will contest the final sprint will contain: Jackson, Watt, Longo, Marsal, Heeb, Schuster, Demet, the Polikeviciute sisters and Zabirova.